Georgia Watch is proud to be the state's leading consumer advocacy group

Ga Supreme Court Strikes Down Malpractice Cap, Strengthens Patients Rights

This past March, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously that limits on jury awards in medical malpractice cases are unconstitutional.

“The very existence of the caps, in any amount, is violative of the right to trial by jury,” wrote Chief Justice Carol Hunstein. “[The cap] clearly nullifies the jury’s findings of fact regarding damages and thereby undermines the jury’s basic function.” Read more

Counseling Center Open for Fannie Mae Homeowners

Are you behind on your mortgage payments or struggling to make payments? If yes, and you have a Fannie Mae-backed mortgage, you now have another resource in metro Atlanta.

Fanny Mae recently opened the Atlanta Mortgage Help Center, which according to a news release, will offer “free access to high quality counseling and in-person resolution of their particular mortgage circumstances.” Read more

Report: How does your hospital rank when it comes to uninsured and low-income patients?

Atlanta, Ga. – Many metro Atlanta hospitals aren’t doing enough to improve health care accessibility for the low-income and uninsured, according to a report released this week by Georgia Watch. In addition, only half of the 34 hospitals in the 21-county Atlanta area fail to post legally-required signage about available financial aid programs. Read More

Ethics and the Legislature

By Angela Speir Phelps

We hear a lot of talk about ethics in government – particularly the need for more. Candidates for public office often talk about the need for ethics reform and those elected talk about their staunch support for strengthening ethics in government. But talk is cheap. Where the rubber meets the road is how one acts, how they conduct the people’s business, and how they vote when presented with the opportunity to stand up for what’s right. A message from a podium is nothing more than an empty promise if forgotten once elected. Read more

Georgia Power Seeking $1 Billion Rate Increase; AGL Wants $54 Million

Amid the worst recession since the Great Depression and state unemployment still topping 10 percent, Georgia Power last month filed a rate increase request before the Public Service Commission (PSC) of more than $1 billion. This falls on the heels of two other Georgia Power rate increases approved over the last year. The new billion-dollar proposal would be phased in over the next three years. By February 2013, average Georgia Power bills would shoot up $18 per month, or $216 per year.

In the filing, Georgia Power is seeking approval to collect significantly more profit from its 2.35 million customers. The regulated utility’s current rate of profit is 11.25 percent. Georgia Power wants to raise its profit margin to nearly 12 percent, which translates to roughly $84 million more of profit per year. Read more

How can my identity be stolen?

  • Malware programs steal personal data online. These programs climbed to more than 1.2 million this year from 135,000 in 2007.
  • 90 percent of malware programs are designed to grab personal information like SSNs and credit cared numbers from online sites that are not protected with spyware.
  • Consumers expose themselves to malware by downloading attachments or clicking links in emails.
  • Theives find information by looking through the trash, filling out postal change of address forms in the victims name and hacking into online records.
  • After obtaining personal information, a theif may commit new account fraud, which occurs when an identity thief uses a victim’s name and SSN to apply for new credit.
ID Theft

Underinsured or uninsured?

You may be eligible to participate in Georgia Watch’s new Hospital Accountability Project (HAP). Contact Georgia Watch to fill out a 26 question survey regarding your personal health care and your impressions of the health system in your area. Survey results will be analyzed and used in upcoming Georgia Watch reports. To learn more about HAP, click here. Or contact Holly Lang at (404) 525-1085 or mailto:hlang@georgiawatch.org.

Health Care

Flood plain map

Head to the FEMA Web site to search for the flood plain in your area. You can search by state, county and neighborhood.

Click here for the site.

Flood Plain

The Hospital Accountability Project

The Hospital Accountability Project aims to broaden accessibility to affordable, quality health care for uninsured, underinsured and low-income Georgians by addressing socioeconomic obstacles, hospital policies, community benefits and regulations throughout the state. Through research and analysis, the publication of relevant reports, the engagement of the state’s hospitals and education and empowerment of the state’s consumers, Georgia Watch aims to increase access to appropriate, quality health care by enacting state-level regulations, advocating hospital policy changes and promoting consumer empowerment. The organization will also actively engage key state-level stakeholders, hospital representatives, community leaders and lawmakers in dialogue on these topics.

The statewide Hospital Accountability Project is funded in part by a grant from Healthcare Georgia Foundation. Created in 1999 as an independent, private foundation, the Foundation’s mission is to advance the health of all Georgians and to expand access to affordable, quality healthcare for underserved individuals and communities.

Highlighting and combating the challenges of low-income, uninsured and underinsured Georgians has long been a top priority of Georgia Watch. Since 2007, Georgia Watch has evaluated issues of access and affordability throughout the state, and has conducted detailed analyses of fiscal practices and community benefit offerings of six of the state’s key safety net facilities. In 2009, the organization received a two-year grant to focus specifically on the metropolitan Atlanta area, examining the particular barriers to affordable care uninsured, underinsured and low-income consumers face. Through research, partnerships with community organizations, and hospital and consumer engagement, Georgia Watch has analyzed these barriers, and will release their findings in a report in spring 2010.

National not-for-profit advocacy organization Community Catalyst funds the Metropolitan Atlanta-specific Hospital Accountability Project, and financially supports similar projects in 14 other states. Funding for these projects comes as a result of cy pres monies awarded from a suit filed in 2002 against Tenet Healthcare on behalf of uninsured and underinsured patients who were charged excessive prices at approximately 114 Tenet-owned facilities nationwide.

Hospital Accountability Project
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